(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of sonochemistry in general.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Sonochemistry:
In chemistry, the study of sonochemistry is concerned with understanding the effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems. The chemical effects of ultrasound do not come from a direct interaction with molecular species. Studies have shown that no direct coupling of the acoustic field with chemical species on a molecular level can account for sonochemistry or sonoluminescence. Instead, sonochemistry arises from acoustic cavitation: the formation, growth, and implosive collapse of bubbles in a liquid. This is demonstrated in phenomena such as ultrasound, sonication, sonoluminescence, and sonic cavitation.
The influence of sonic waves traveling through liquids was first reported by Robert Williams Wood (1868-1955) and Alfred Lee Loomis (1887-1975) in 1927, but the article was left mostly unnoticed. Sonochemistry experienced a renaissance in the 1980s with the advent of inexpensive and reliable generators of high-intensity ultrasound.
Upon irradiation with high intensity sound or ultrasound, acoustic cavitation usually occurs. Cavitation—the formation, growth, and implosive collapse of bubbles irradiated, with sound—is the impetus for sonochemistry and sonoluminescence. Bubble collapse in liquids produces enormous amounts of energy from the conversion of kinetic energy of the liquid motion into heating the contents of the bubble. The compression of the bubbles during cavitation is more rapid than thermal transport, which generates a short-lived localized hot-spot. Experimental results have shown that these bubbles have temperatures around 5000 K, pressures of roughly 1000 atm, and heating and cooling rates above 1010 K/s. These cavitations can create extreme physical and chemical conditions in otherwise cold liquids. With liquids containing solids, similar phenomena may occur with exposure to ultrasound. Once cavitation occurs near an extended solid surface, cavity collapse is nonsphereical and drives high-speed jets of liquid to the surface. These jets and associated shock waves can damage the now highly heated surface. Liquid-powder suspensions produce high velocity interparticle collisions. These collisions can change the surface morphology, composition, and reactivity. Three classes of sonochemical reactions exist: homogeneous sonochemistry of liquids, heterogeneous sonochemistry of liquid-liquid or solid-liquid systemes, and, overlapping with the aforementioned, sonocatalysis. Sonoluminescence is typically regarded as a special case of homogeneous sonochemistry. The chemical enhancement of reactions by ultrasound has been explored and has beneficial applications in mixed phase synthesis, materials chemistry, and biomedical uses. Because cavitation can only occur in liquids, chemical reactions are not seen in the ultrasonic irradiation of solids or solid-gas systems. For example, in chemical kinetics, it has been observed that ultrasound can greatly enhance chemical reactivity in a number of systems by as much as a million-fold; effectively acting as a catalyst by exciting the atomic and molecular modes of the system (such as the vibrational, rotational, and translational modes). In addition, in reactions that use solids, ultrasound breaks up the solid pieces from the energy released from the bubbles created by cavitation collapsing through them. This gives the solid reactant a larger surface area for the reaction to proceed over, increasing the observed rate of reaction. Sonochemistry can be performed by using a bath (usually used for ultrasonic cleaning) or with a high power probe. The most significant problem of sonochemistry is the fact that is difficult to generate economically strong sonic waves in a liquid this is the reason why sonochemistry is only limited to very special applications. A brand new application for sonochemistry is the production of nanoparticles—such as carbon nanotubes, titanium nanocrystals etc. These nanoparticles can be used for a revolutionary new electronics, machines and materials. Because of the fact that these nanoparticles have a high purity for examples the from Soo-Hwan Jeong, Ju-Hye Ko, Jong-Bong Park, and Wanjun Park in their article “A Sonochemical Route to Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes under Ambient Conditions,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 124, 15982-15983, described process uses a 0.01 mol % ferrocene-dissolved p-xylene solution to produce 60% pure Single walled carbon nanotubes. Other sonochemical processes are able to produce similar nanotubes of other materials as carbon. It is also able to produce or prepare nanocrystals described in “Sonochemical Preparation of Hollow Nanospheres and Hollow Nanocrystals” from Dhas and Suslick in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 2368-2369. For these nanocrystals there exists a lot of different applications in medicine, photovoltaics etc.
Explosives:
An explosive Material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied by the production of heat and large, changes in pressure (and typically also a flash and/or loud noise) upon initiation; this is called the explosion. An example for an explosive is ANFO (or AN/FO, for ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) is a widely used explosive mixture. ANFO under most conditions is considered a high explosive; it decomposes through detonation rather than deflagration and with a high velocity. It is a tertiary explosive consisting of distinct fuel and oxidizer phases and requires confinement for efficient detonation and brisance. Its sensitivity is relatively low; it generally requires a booster (e.g., one or two sticks of dynamite, as historically used, or, in more recent times, TOVEX) to ensure reliable detonation. However, an increase in the density of the mix can correspondingly increase ANFO's sensitivity. For this reason it is not always necessary to use High Explosives to detonate ANFO mixes. The explosive efficiency associated with ANFO is approximately 80% of TNT, also stated as (0.8) TNT equivalency. The most efficient mixed AN explosives using fuels other than fuel oil can exceed (1.6) TNT equivalency
Gattling Gun:
The Gattling gun (1861) was one of the most well known rapid-fire weapons to be used in the 1860s by the Union forces of the Civil War, following the 1851 invention of the mitrailleuse by the Belgian Army. Although the first Gattling gun was capable of firing continuously, it required human power to crank it; as such it was not a true automatic weapon. Each barrel fired a single shot as it reached a certain point in the cycle after which it ejected the spent cartridge, loaded a new round, and in the process, cooled down somewhat. This configuration allowed higher rates of fire without the problem of an overheating single barrel. Some time later, Gaffing-type weapons were invented that diverted a fraction of gas from the chamber to turn the barrels. Later still, electric motors supplied external power. The gun was designed by the American inventor Dr. Richard J. Gattling in 1861 and patented in 1862. The Maxim gun, invented in 1884, was the first true automatic weapon, making use of the fired projectile's recoil force to reload the weapon.
Shallow Underwater Explosions:
If an explosive is detonated underwater there occurs an shock wave is the explosion is shallow the shock wave will be reflected by the water-air boundary and inverted causing a strong negative pressure this leads to very strong cavitation.
“Cavitation and shock wave effects on biological systems” by Bernhard Wolfrum is a dissertation where a shock lithotripter and ultrasonic contrast agents are used for generation cavitation through shock waves. It is shown that the effects are similar like Single Bubble Sonoluminescence.
Vibration Table:
A Vibration Table is table which is able to produce vibrations—mostly vertical vibrations.
This is done with a vibrational motor which generates a centripetal force, which is directed to a vertical excitation. These vibration tables are often used for generating emulsions.
Water Hammer Effect:
If the vertical oscillation of a liquid (water) is stronger than 2 G the water will be risen apart so that one part will flow up and the other part will flow down, so that large, cavities are formed. A detailed description can be found in Su, et al., “Cavitation luminescence in a water hammer: Upscaling sonoluminescence,” Physics of Fluids 2003; 15(16): 1457-1461.